


coming in unannounced (drag my nails on the tile)

by iknownothing



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: I wrote this in like an hour, M/M, Scott is adorable, Teacher Derek, isaac is a bad kid, so maybe underage? idk stiles is eighteen, stiles and derek get together, teacher/student relationship (briefly)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-04
Updated: 2015-02-04
Packaged: 2018-03-10 10:50:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3287549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iknownothing/pseuds/iknownothing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Isaac is the new kid who flips a desk on his first day and Scott is in love with him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	coming in unannounced (drag my nails on the tile)

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Fall Out Boy's "Irresistible"

English has always been Scott's worst subject and the new kid with curly hair and pale skin, eyes so blue Scott thinks he's never seen the color blue before, and someone's old dog tags hanging around his neck is not helping his concentration. In fact, he's taking all of Scott's concentration and the worst part is he doesn't even seem to know it. His eyes have stayed locked on the window the entire class period. 

His name is Isaac. And Mr. Hale thought it would be a good idea to place him directly in front of Scott. Scott even thinks he saw a sort of mischievous glint in the teacher's eyes when they landed on Scott. Almost like he /knew/ Scott thinks Isaac is the hottest guy he's ever seen. Something about "I don't give a damn" attitude and the long, thin fingers and the curly hair and the-

Scott jumps when something hits the back of his head and falls to the floor. He retrieves the piece of paper that's been balled up for optimum throwing conditions and unfolds it carefully. 

"Dude, you're drooling all over your desk." 

He recognizes Stiles' handwriting immediately and shoots his best friend an annoyed look. Stiles raises his eyebrows and Scott shakes his head vehemently because he was /not/ drooling. But so what if he was? Stiles spends all class period drooling over Mr. Hale anyway. Which, okay, before Isaac Scott did too. Mr. Hale is insanely attractive. And the thought of him pinning Scott against a wall and-

Okay, not the time. 

He drops the note in his backpack and tries to concentrate on the lesson, but Great Expectations is about as boring as it sounds. Estella and Joe Gargery and Pip have no real value to Scott. But it was kind of cool when Ms. Havisham caught on fire. At least it made things interesting. 

He's thinking about people's dresses catching on fire when someone finally joins in the discussion Mr. Hale is so desperately trying to get together. Unfortunately, it's only to say, really angrily, that Great Expectations is "utter bullshit" and "people have actual fucking problems." It takes Scott a moment to realize that the voice belongs to Isaac. Isaac who is pushing back his chair and picking up his ripped at the seams backpack and glaring at Mr. Hale. Glaring with those gorgeous blue eyes, one of which is ringed by a dark bruise. Scott turns to look at Stiles who looks offended, amused, and confused all at the same time. 

"Would you like to explain, Mr. Lahey?" Mr. Hale says coolly, calmly, "Or were you planning on going somewhere?" 

Isaac looks utterly lost for a moment before he regains his somewhat scary bravado and promptly leaves the classroom. He even knocks a desk over on his way out. Scott and the rest of the class stare open mouthed at the door. Another balled up piece of paper hits Scott in the back of the head. This time, Mr. Hale catches the piece of paper flying through the air and narrows his eyes at Scott and Stiles. 

"Would you care to read that out loud?" 

Scott turns red but obediently picks up the piece of paper and unfolds it. Mentally, he prays Stiles didn't say anything too incriminating. But of course, Stiles has no setting /but/ incriminating. In Stiles horrible handwriting, glaring up at Scott like the gates of Hell, it says "Mr. Hale has a great ass." 

Stiles doesn't even look embarrassed. 

"Would you care to discuss /that/, Mr. Hale?" Stiles grins and Mr. Hale looks like he's about to kill someone. 

"See me after class, Stilinski." 

"Don't mind if I do." 

-*-

It's been a week and Isaac still hasn't come back to English. That and Stiles won't stop bragging about his after class meeting with Mr. Hale. He only got a detention but he insists that it was the closest Mr. Hale has ever gotten to a love confession. And he refuses to call him anything but Derek. 

"I think Derek wants me." 

"He's our /teacher,/ Stiles." Scott reminds him for the hundredth time, but Stiles looks completely unfazed. While they are eighteen and Mr. Hale is only in his twenties, it still feels weird to think about Stiles and "Derek" in any capacity besides teacher and student. And Stiles' dad is the goddamn sheriff! He could have Mr. Hale arrested if he wanted! Or fired! And then what? 

"Whatever. That just makes it more exciting." 

"I'm worried about Isaac." Scott changes the subject. Stiles rolls his eyes dramatically because, okay, maybe Scott has brought this up a few times before. But it's nothing compared to how many times Stiles has gone into explicit detail about his very vivid fantasies involving Mr. Hale. Scott has a few fantasies of his own but that doesn't mean he wants to hear about other people's. Especially not his best friend's. And definitely not when he's eating. 

"Dude, he's clearly a basket case." 

"He seems nice." 

Stiles looks at him like he's grown a second head, "He literally, /literally/ knocked a desk over. I mean, I hate Great Expectations too, but have I ever knocked a desk over because of it? No." 

"Because you're not strong enough." 

"Hey!" Stiles flails unhappily, "Under this shirt is nothing but pure muscle, I will have you know. And desks aren't that heavy. Sorry to disappoint your homoerotic little brain, but flipping a desk doesn't mean your boyfriend benches 280 on a bad day." 

"I know that." Scott says defensively, even though he does find it kind of hot that Isaac flipped the desk so effortlessly. Can anyone blame him? He's a teenager. He finds everything hot. Sometimes he finds Jackson Whittemore's douchebag routine hot. 

"And he's not my boyfriend!" He snaps and earns a quirked brow from Harris. 

"Sit down, McCall." Harris says nastily. 

"Good to see you, Harris." Stiles pipes up, "You're looking lovely as always." 

"Just because certain teachers let you get away with your inappropriate and, frankly, disturbing comments, Stilinski, does not mean that I will." Harris practically hisses at Stiles, "You will get far worse than a detention from me if you pass any notes containing, for example, commentary on anyone's body parts." 

"You're right, Harris. I am totally and completely out of control. I should be stopped. Immediately." 

"Sit!" 

"Aye, sir." And Stiles hurries to his seat, but not before whispering a pointed, "Someone's jealous," in Scott's ear. Harris looks like he wants to call Stiles out on it, but thankfully refrains from doing anything. He orders the class to take out their books and their highlighters because they will be needing them and launches into a practically incomprehensible lecture about the finer points of Chemistry. The only one who seems to understand a word that's being said is Lydia Martin, as she neatly drags her highlighter across the page and adds notes in the margins. Her strawberry blonde hair falls neatly across her back. Not for the first time, Scott wonders how he could be gay with a girl like Lydia Martin around. Lydia Martin who's smarter than the whole Junior class combined and meaner than anyone has a right to be. 

"McCall! Are you listening, or should I be writing this all down for you?" 

"I'm listening, sir." 

"Good, then perhaps you could tell me the chemical properties of silver?" 

Scott sighs, "No, sir. I can't." 

"Can /anyone/ tell me the chemical properties of silver? Or am I standing in a room full of idiots?" Harris scans the room, "Put your hand down, Stilinksi, I don't feel like listening to you get this question wrong." 

Stiles makes a face but puts his hand down. 

-*-

Isaac is back in English three weeks after his outburst. Mr. Hale makes no mention of his absence except to welcome him back. Isaac scowls at his desk the whole time, or Scott assumes he's scowling. He was scowling when he walked through the door, at least. 

They're almost done with Great Expectations. Scott is almost as glad as Stiles who remains firm in his conviction that it was the worst book ever. Scott thinks this is because Stiles never reads books anyway, which neither does he. Oh, well. Maybe they should work on that. 

"Now, for our final few days of Great Expectations," Mr. Hale rolls his eyes at the cheer that erupts at the words, "You'll be grouping up to do a character analysis." The room groans and Mr. Hale smiles, "Come on, it's not that bad. I could make you do it individually."

"I'd like to do /you/ individually!" 

"Stiles..." Mr. Hale begins, then pinches the bridge of his nose and lets out a long sigh, "You know what? Never mind. Please get in groups of three and pick your character. I'll be passing out the rubric." 

"Really, Stiles?" Scott admonishes as soon as Stiles takes a seat beside him, "You're going to get kicked out of his class." 

"He likes it." Stiles says decisively, "Did you see the way he looked? He was totally trying not to get a boner. A hot, horribly inappropriate boner." Stiles laughs when Scott feigns (no, it's not actually fake) disgust, "I'm about to become your best friend."

Scott looks at him suspiciously, "I thought you already were?" 

"Okay, yeah. But I'm about to show you why I am." Stiles grins mischievously and Scott tries to think of all the things Stiles could possibly do to humiliate, mortify, etc. him in front of the entire class. There are a lot. And Stiles has little to no boundaries. 

"Stiles, whatever it is, please-" 

"Too late!" Stiles slaps him on the back and /bellows,/ "ISAAC!" To which Scott lets out an unmanly squawk and Isaac looks up from where he's standing by the pencil sharpener with nothing short of utter confusion in his eyes. He doesn't look like someone who would flip a desk. He looks like a puppy. And then his eyes land on Stiles and he practically screams "completely and utterly annoyed." 

"COME BE OUR THIRD PERSON!" Stiles, still bellowing, attracts the attention of the entire class. Mr. Hale looks ready to murder and, come to think of it, so does Isaac. Scott tries to make himself as small and utterly invisible as possible. 

And then Mr. Hale smiles that terrifying smile that means he has an idea. It's almost as terrifying as when Stiles' smiles. Almost. "Actually, Isaac, I think Stiles here has a great idea." 

"No wa-" Isaac begins and then...

"Your parents having sex was a great idea!" Stiles /winks/ at Mr. Hale. 

"Get in the group." Mr. Hale growls at Isaac and turns towards his desk, but not before Scott sees that he's actually /blushing./ Oh, god. This cannot be happening. His teacher /blushing/ at one of Stiles' stupid comment /and/ he's being forced to work with someone he thinks is insanely hot who flipped a goddamn table on his first day. Could this day get any worse? 

He knocks on the wood of his desk, just in case. 

"Dude," Stiles leans back in his chair as Isaac sits in his assigned seat, turned around so he can see Scott and Stiles, "I think I'm getting to him." 

"I'm going to kill you." 

Isaac looks like he might be willing to help. 

-*-

It doesn't even take an entire class period for Scott to take back every wishful, lust filled thought he's had about Isaac. They guy is a total asshole and completely unhelpful. He constantly shoots down Stiles' and Scott's ideas but refuses to offer any of his own. The only cheerful one in the group by the end of class is Stiles. He looks absolutely /thrilled/ and not just because he's still riding the high of Mr. Hale's blush. 

"He's a /douche./" Stiles practically sings as they walk to his Jeep after school and Scott shoots daggers at him, but Stiles is oblivious or totally ignoring them, "No, really, you picked a winner, Scotty Boy." 

"Shut up, Stiles." 

"Okay, fine. But you have to be over your crush by now. I mean the guy literally called you a 'waste of intellectual space' in the same breath that he asked what the word 'impending' means. How could you still think he's hot after that? I mean, the guy would have to be /Derek/ hot for anyone to like him. It's not like you can fall in love with him for his /personality./" 

"I get it, Stiles!" Scott practically growls, "But it's your fault we're stuck with him for this project." 

"It's only a few days, Scott." Stiles says reassuringly, "We'll just listen to him bitch and do the work ourselves." He throws his hands up, "And then we're done!" When he doesn't immediately put his hands back on the wheel Scott punches him on the arm. 

"Are you trying to kill us?" 

"You kind of looked like you wanted to die when Isaac mentioned the fact that he thinks the name Scott is weird." 

"Who says that?" Scott huffs, "Like, seriously?" 

"Isaac." Stiles shrugs, "He knows my dad." 

"From the grocery store?" 

"No, idiot. From the police station." Stiles scoffs, "Besides, I do the grocery shopping." He adds as an after thought. Scott rolls his eyes because, seriously, he knows Stiles does the grocery shopping. He always manages to wheedle Scott into going with him. 

"Really?" 

"Yeah? Dude, you go with me." 

"No, really Isaac knows your dad!" 

"Oh, well you should have said that." Scott glares at Stiles, "Okay, damn. Yeah, Isaac has a record." Stiles slams on his brakes at a stop sign and Scott jerks forward, nearly whacking his head against the dashboard. 

"Stiles!" 

"Well, why don't you get a car!?" 

"Isaac has a record?" Scott prompts as the car begins moving again. 

"Yep." Stiles nods as they pull to his house, "He gets into fights a lot. Underage drinking. Petty theft. Breaking and entering." He pushes open his door and Scott does the same, letting the information sink in. 

"But you can't really blame him." Stiles continues as they head upstairs to his room, "His dad beat the shit out of him until he was murdered over the summer. But honestly, that's no excuse for flipping desks." 

"What!?" 

"You think that's a good excuse? Fine. I'm not saying it can't be a portion of the motivation but, come on, flip desks on your own time. Mr. Hale was just trying to-" 

"No, Stiles! His dad was /murdered/ and /abusive/!? How long have you known this!?" 

"I don't know..." Stiles looks up from his computer, "Like two weeks?" 

"DUDE!" 

-*-

The next day is Saturday and Scott spends most of it ignoring Stiles. Seriously, how could Stiles know something that big and not think to tell him? Aren't they best friends? And aren't best friends supposed to tell each other everything? 

But Stiles eventually texts him enough sad face emojis for him to crack. 

They meet at the small diner within walking distance of both their houses and have milkshakes, courtesy of Stiles who admits that he was wrong to withhold such "thrilling information." 

"I just didn't want to get in trouble." Stiles explains between gulps (because Stiles has never learned the art of sipping) of vanilla milkshake, "Dad didn't exactly tell me about Isaac's track record." 

This is no surprise to Scott. He's used to Stiles lying, cheating, and wriggling his way into everything. He's stolen more police records than Scott can count and never feels even the slightest bit of guilt for it. Sometimes Scott wishes he were as completely unfazed by breaking the law as Stiles. And then Stiles will hack into the FBI archives and Scott wonders why he doesn't run while he still can. 

"You should stop doing that." 

"Probably." 

The bell above the door rings and Stiles looks up, eyes widening comically enough that Scott is forced to turn around and look for himself. Standing just inside the doorway is Mr. Hale and he looks none too pleased to see Scott and Stiles there. 

"Derek!" Stiles crows happily, "Good to see you!" 

"Are you sure you need sugar, Stiles?" Mr. Hale looks at the milkshake pointedly, "You're already twenty times more mouthy than you should be. Sugar isn't going to help that." He quirks a brow when Stiles grins. 

"I'm very /mouthy/, Derek." 

"How are you, Scott?" Mr. Hale says loudly and turns away from Stiles who looks delighted. 

"Good." 

"That's good. How was your group? Isaac isn't easy to work with, I know." 

"Horrible." Scott says dejectedly, "Isaac is awful." 

"Well, you'll just have to warm up to him." Mr. Hale says wisely, "I'm sure he'll get better. And if he doesn't, it's only another week." 

"I thought this was only going for a few days?" 

"I changed my mind." Mr. Hale says happily and tilts his head towards the door, "I'm going to leave you two alone. See you in class." 

They watch Mr. Hale walk away, Stiles not even bothering to hide his approval. 

"That man has to do /something/ to get an ass that perfect." 

Scott is too miserable to drink the rest of his milkshake. 

-*-

On Sunday he takes a really long walk. 

He leaves his phone at home and is prepared for the barrage of text messages from Stiles. But he wants to be alone to think. Because while Isaac is horrible and rude and all sorts of bad adjectives, he's also kind of sad. And Scott has fallen into the horrible position of possibly being someone who could help him. And if there's one thing he's been raised to believe it's that you should always try to help someone. 

It's mostly because his mom is a/the best nurse. But also because it's just who he is. He was the kid who always brought the bird with the broken wing home and put it in a shoe box. The kid who cried when his fish died and had to have a proper burial for it. He's a bleeding heart, as Stiles says. He doesn't see how that could be considered a bad thing. What's so wrong about wanting to help people? 

Of course, it doesn't always work. 

Scott frowns and kicks at a rock on the sidewalk. He knows if he tries to help Isaac he'll probably just get the shit beaten out of him. And Stiles will do nothing but say "I told you so" a million times. And his mom will give him that proud, frustrated look and explain that he can't fight everyone's battles for them. And maybe Isaac won't ever talk to him again and, as much as he hates being insulted, Isaac is still hot. 

He doesn't know what to do. 

Fortunately, he doesn't have to decide. Because as he's turning around to head back home and face the wrath of Stiles ("Oh my god, Scott, I thought you were dead!") he hears the sound of someone hitting someone else pretty squarely in the nose. And the sound of a nose breaking. He looks up to see if he's inadvertently stumbled into something he shouldn't have and comes face to face with Isaac who's holding Jackson Whittemore up by the shirt collar. Isaac blinks at him once before letting Jackson fall to the ground at his feet where Jackson stays. Scott is caught between wanting to help Jackson (even though he's a douche) and laughing hysterically. 

"Holy shit." 

Isaac frowns at him and wipes his bloody knuckles on his jeans, "Get out of here, McCall." The "or I'll break your nose too" is implied. Scott merely shakes his head and, nervously, folds his arms. 

"Why did you beat up Jackson?" And, wow, he sounds nervous as hell. 

"What?" 

"Why did you beat up Jackson?" Scott repeats and gestures to the bloody lump on the ground, "What did he do?" 

Isaac looks lost, "I-" 

"You should apologize." 

Now Isaac looks annoyed, "What the fuck? Just get out of here. You aren't my babysitter. You're just a stupid kid." Isaac crosses his arms as well and Scott lets his fall back down to his sides. 

"Not until you apologize." 

"No." 

"Yes." 

"No." 

"Yes." 

"This is fucking stupid." Isaac murmurs and begins to walk away but, stupidly, Scott grabs his shirt sleeve. He's on the ground faster than he can think "hey, maybe that wasn't a good idea" and Isaac is leaning over him with a vicious look on his face. 

"Don't fucking touch me." 

"Technically I touched your shirt." Scott says unhelpfully. 

Surprisingly, Isaac doesn't punch him in the face. He looks torn between two choices and, finally, turns around and leaves Scott lying next to Jackson on the sidewalk. Jackson is dripping blood and refuses Scott's help with a grimace. Scott shrugs and goes back home. 

All in all, Sunday is damn weird. 

-*-

Both Isaac and Jackson are absent on Monday. Scott hears Lydia complaining about the state of her boyfriend's fact to a quiet girl named Allison in Chemistry. She uses words like "delinquent" and "charity case" which, weirdly, make Scott angry. She doesn't know anything about Isaac! But, okay, he did beat up her boyfriend for seemingly no reason. Still, she shouldn't be so rude about someone she doesn't know. 

Scott remains close lipped about Sunday's incident. He doesn't even tell Stiles because he knows Stiles will call him an idiot. A nice idiot, but still an idiot. Scott can hear him saying it with that stupid "Scott, really" tone he has. 

Stiles does nothing but talk during English. He talks about Isaac beating the shit out of Jackson and how he wishes he could have been there because, as he puts it, Jackson is an ass. 

"I'm just glad Isaac isn't here to be a douche." 

"He's not that bad." Scott defends Isaac distractedly because he's still thinking about Isaac throwing him to the ground on Sunday. He doesn't realize Stiles is gaping at him until, well, he looks at Stiles and realizes that he's gaping at him. 

"Something happened." 

"What? No, he's just not that bad." 

"You're not telling me something." Stiles smacks Scott's arm, "Did you two kiss in the rain?" 

"It hasn't rained in, like, a month." 

"I mean, metaphorically." Stiles' eyes go wide, "Did he beat the shit out of Jackson because he was defending your honor?" When Scott doesn't immediately respond (because he's wondering what it would be like if Isaac /had/ been beating Jackson up to defend his honor), Stiles loses it, "Oh my god! He did! He totally did! And Jackson was totally fucked up! Isaac must really like you! Or, well he has some issues. Still, it's the thought that counts. He beat a guy up for you, dude!" 

"No! Stiles, shut up!" Because people are looking at them. 

"Oh." Stiles doesn't even seem upset, "Well, what's made you change your mind about Mr. Basket Case?" 

"Stop calling him that." Scott snaps, "I just think we should be giving him the benefit of the doubt is all." He tries to ignore the way Stiles is looking at him, "What are Estella's physical characteristics?" 

"I just don't want you to get hurt, Scott." 

The sincerity in Stiles' voice makes Scott look up and he almost (almost) forgives Stiles for all the shit things he's done because the look in his eyes is so goddamn serious and /concerned/ that Scott is taken aback. He's never seen Stiles this somber unless he's talking about his mom. And he usually cheers up pretty quickly. It's one of the things Scott likes best about Stiles. Sometimes the lack of seriousness is good. 

"I saw Isaac beating up Jackson." Scott admits softly, conspiratorially, "I was taking a walk and I kind of stumbled on them. Jackson was already messed up when I got there. I kind of told Isaac to apologize and then he tried to leave and I grabbed his sleeve and he threw me on the ground. But I'm okay and, like, I get it. I shouldn't have done that. But he kind of walked off and I'm worried about him." 

"What the /hell,/ Scott!?" And, okay, shouting. 

"Stiles, shut up!" 

But it's too late. Mr. Hale is already standing over them looking none too pleased. He crosses his arms and /glares/ at Stiles. Stiles looks less concerned more aroused. Scott wonders at the terrifying emotional accuracy of Mr. Hale's eyebrows. 

"Is there a problem?" Mr. Hale asks calmly but his eyebrows tell a different story. 

Stiles gives him an approving, top to bottom, obviously checking him out look, "The problem is that we're in a public place, Derek." And the whole class erupts as Mr. Hale turns bright red and mutters a very strangled, "See me after class, Stilinski" before running back to his desk. 

Stiles is grinning like the Cheshire Cat when he turns back to Scott, "Dude, you totally tried to mom a volatile, possibly murdering teenage abuse case." Scott winces at the use of the word "mom." He didn't really /mom/ Isaac. He just tried to lead him in the right direction and, oh god, he tried to mom Isaac. 

"It's a good thing he's not here." 

"Yeah, dude." Stiles agrees, "A very good thing. I'm amazed you didn't end up like Jackson." 

"Me too. I thought he was going to punch me." 

"Maybe he thinks your hot." 

"What?" Scott splutters and Stiles gives him a blank look, "What do you mean?" 

"Well, he could have punched you. Dude, /I/ would have punched you. But he didn't. So he thinks you're hot." Stiles says it like it's the most obvious thing in the world. Scott tries not to think too much about it. Could Isaac think he's hot? 

No. That's impossible. 

-*-

Isaac doesn't come back until Wednesday and he hardly talks at all during their English class. They get the project finished with little trouble when no one is arguing over minute details. Stiles keeps up a constant chatter about the history of the male circumcision. 

"Do you even need to breathe?" Isaac finally breaks his vow of silence when Stiles reaches the 19th century. 

"Nope." Stiles says easily, "I'm an alien. And you," He points at Mr. Hale who's obviously trying to sneak past, "are out of this world." Mr. Hale ignores the comment but Stiles still looks pleased with himself. 

"You're pathetic, Stilinski." Isaac says venomously when Mr. Hale is out of earshot, "He obviously doesn't like you and never will. Why can't you just shut the hell up?" There's a beat of silence where Scott considers just walking away before Stiles quirks a very pointed brow at Isaac. 

"You know, life would be a lot easier if you weren't such a douche. I mean, yeah, I go after things I want. And, okay, sometimes those things weren't meant to be. But that's life, ya know? And you can't just sit around and let life pass you by. If you never take chances you'll never get a goddamn thing, am I right? So I tell Derek he's hot, because he is, and make it known that I would love for him to fuck me so hard I can't walk straight for a week. For me, that's life. I'm not letting the chance pass me by without at least trying for it. I don't care if you like it. I don't care if you want to throw another bitch fit and flip another desk or beat the shit out of me and break my nose. Maybe steal another TV. Do whatever the hell you want." Stiles jabs his finger at Isaac and Scott swears Isaac /flinches/ away from the gesture, "But don't expect me to stop living /my/ life the way /I/ want to." 

The whole classroom is silent. You could probably hear a pin drop. Stiles and Isaac stare at each other from across the very easily flipped and very small desk. Scott surreptitiously scoots his chair back. When Isaac turns to him, he flinches expecting to be hit. 

But Isaac doesn't hit him. 

He apologizes. 

Scott stares at him. Stiles looks satisfied. And Isaac pushes back his chair and, for the second time, leaves the classroom. But this time he leaves quietly and Mr. Hale doesn't bother to say anything about it. 

Stiles runs a hand through his short hair and sighs, "God, I hate being right." 

Scott looks at him. 

Stiles doesn't bother to explain himself, so Scott just shrugs his shoulders and forgets about it. 

-*-

Isaac isn't back for the rest of the week. Scott and Stiles present their project by themselves and end up getting a B- on it, which is better than Scott as expecting since their third group member was AWOL most of the time. Stiles seems pleased with the grade and forces his dad to tape the graded rubric to the fridge. Sheriff Stilinski takes them out for pizza and nearly chokes when Stiles mentions how sexually attracted he is to Derek. 

"He's nearly thirty years old, Stiles!" 

"I like older men, Dad." Stiles says unconcernedly, "Get used to it." 

Needless to say they don't stay out very long. 

On Saturday Scott plays video games and tries not to think about what Isaac is doing. What if he never comes back to school? And why did he apologize? Does he really think Scott is hot? Is he even gay? 

There are too many questions and not enough answers. Stiles is generally unhelpful when it comes to answering any of these questions. He only wants to talk about Mr. Hale and how close he is to admitting his love for Stiles. 

"I know you think he's hot, Stiles." Scott sighs as he kills yet another unsuspecting enemy, "But can we talk about my problem, please?" Stiles makes an annoyed sound on the other end of the phone but stops talking about how attractive Mr. Hale's biceps are. 

"Why did Isaac apologize to /me/?" Scott asks while simultaneously getting gunned down in the game. He swears and respawns. On the other end, he can practically hear Stiles Googling. 

"I don't know, dude. He should have apologized to me." 

"Yeah," Scott agrees, "So...why me?" 

"Because he thinks you're hot." Stiles says simply. 

"You think?" 

"Sure." 

"But do you really think he does? We don't even know if he's gay." 

"Ask him." 

"I can't ask him if he's gay!" Scott yelps. 

Ask him if he thinks you're hot." Stiles amends and that's when Scott hangs up. Stiles is totally unhelpful. But who else is he supposed to ask? It's not like he has an abundance of friends. And his mom will just laugh and say "Teen problems. I wish I had those." before telling him to man up and face the music. She's done it more times than he can count. And Sheriff Stilinski is always busy. 

The only person he could actually talk to that would give somewhat satisfactory answers is Isaac and that's a horrible idea for several reasons. He has no idea where Isaac lives and also Isaac has proven himself to be open to violence. Because Scott doesn't feel like getting his face bashed in, he settles for stewing over the problem until it drives him insane and Stiles has to help him or risk secondhand insanity. 

So Scott spends all night thinking about Isaac. He spends all Sunday walking and thinking about Isaac. In English on Monday he stares at the back of Isaac's head and thinks about Isaac. Stiles throws note after note at his head but he ignores them. He's too busy thinking about Isaac. Isaac, Isaac, Isaac. Isaac who has another bruise around his eye and won't look at Scott or Stiles for anything. Isaac who barely murmurs "here" when Mr. Hale takes roll. Isaac who seems sadder and sadder with each passing day. Scott watches him with concern and feels himself making a decision. He's going to have to talk to Isaac. 

But how? When? What will be his excuse? 

Stiles continues to harass Mr. Hale and remain totally unhelpful. Scott will bring up his decision to talk to Isaac and Stiles will merely nod and say something like "atta boy" before launching into a disgusting monologue about Mr. Hale's stubble. It makes Scott glad that Isaac is always clean shaven. 

He begins to watch Isaac in situations other than English. Like lunch, where Isaac sits by himself. And at his locker, where Isaac will put binders in and take binders out all while looking extremely sad. Scott has no idea how someone can look that sad and still survive. 

Mr. Hale lets them choose their next novel and, by a surprising landslide vote, Lord of the Flies wins. Stiles is overly excited about the "island murder book" that he's read "a good three times" because it's "just that awesome, Scott, you don't understand." Scott supposes he doesn't. He's never even heard of the book until now. But the way Stiles talks about it he's pretty sure it won't be another Great Expectations. 

Isaac still looks sad. 

-*-

Sunday has become Scott's walking day. As Spring comes it gets even better, because more people are out on the sidewalks with him. He talks to old ladies and waves at babies. And he pets dogs. Holy shit, the dogs. 

But he still hasn't managed to talk to Isaac. 

Stiles has begun calling him all talk and no actual, physical action. Scott has to agree with him. For a while, he talked a big game about how he was going to catch Isaac at his locker or sit across from him at lunch. But he never actual did anything. 

What's worse, and what he doesn't tell Stiles, is that he sees Isaac pretty often on his walks. Isaac is always sitting on a bench at the park with headphones in and his dog tags shining in the sun. Scott wants to ask him about them, the dog tags, and ask him about a lot of other stuff too. But he can never bring himself to actually go over there. What if Isaac rejects him? What if Isaac punches him? What if he doesn't know how to say what he wants to say? The list is endless. 

So he always just keeps going. He's sure Isaac notices him, at least some of the times, but he never tries to stop Scott and Scott never stops. It's a cycle, a routine, and neither one of them wants to break it. 

It sucks. He can't help but think about Stiles' speech in English that day about taking the chances life gives you. It makes him wish he were as brave or, really, as unconcerned with people's opinions as Stiles is. That would make life a lot easier. 

He's too scared to talk to Isaac though. That's one chance that life is just going to have to stop giving him. 

-*-

In the end it's Mr. Hale who forces Scott to work things out with Isaac. 

For Lord of the Flies, he assigns a partner assignment. And with that same smile that scared Scott the first time, he tells Isaac and Scott to partner up. Scott can barely breathe as Isaac turns around in his seat and taps his pencil against the desk. It strikes Scott as more of a nervous gesture than an impatient one. He tries to breathe evenly. Isaac is just another person, right? It's not like he's going to kill Scott in a crowded classroom. 

Faintly, he hears Stiles say something like "I'd like to partner up with you, Derek. In bed." Judging by the way the class reacts, Mr. Hale's reaction was a red face and a hurried retreat to his desk. Honestly, it's gotten out of hand. 

For a long time, neither Scott nor Isaac speaks. 

When they do speak, it's at the same time. 

"Why did you apologize to me?" 

"You know what Stiles said about taking chances, well, do you want to hang out sometime?" 

They both stop awkwardly and look at one another. Scott is the first to respond, "We could go to my house and play video games." Isaac smiles and says that he would like that. Scott is on Cloud Nine. 

"I apologized because I kind of threw you on the ground." Isaac finally responds to Scott's question and Scott laughs, which probably wasn't the best reaction. Isaac looks hurt and Scott quickly calms down. 

"Sorry, just...I totally tried to mom you. I should be the one apologizing." 

Isaac laughs this time and Scott does too. He feels a balled up piece of paper hit his head and ignores it. Let Stiles think what he wants. He can tell Scott later, preferably when is isn't talking to a hot guy with the best laugh he's ever heard. 

-*-

Hanging out with Isaac is easier than Scott thought it would be. 

He plays video games with ease and little concentration. Most of the time he lays his incredibly long legs in Scott's lap and eats all of the food in Scott's house. Scott doesn't mention it, though, because he slowly learns that Isaac is a lot more insecure than you would think. 

Read: incredibly. 

He never talks about his dad except to say that he's gone. He rarely talks about his mom who died when he was little. And he talks fondly of his brother (the dog tags). Scott listens to whatever he wants to say about them and doesn't pry. He'll learn in time. 

Stiles and Isaac get along well when Isaac is in a good mood. 

Stiles and Isaac fight like cats and dogs when Stiles has taken too much Adderall and Isaac is sporting another black eye or split lip because he gets too angry too quickly. Scott tries to keep them separated when this is the case. 

Isaac loves to read and Mr. Hale nods approvingly whenever he sees Scott and Isaac together. Stiles continues making inappropriate comments and Isaac even helps him come up with some better pick up lines. 

Scott tries to keep Isaac out of trouble, he really does. When Isaac isn't at his house playing video games or at the diner with him and Stiles drinking a milkshake, Scott texts him. He calls him when he can. He gets Isaac a job when Isaac promptly gets fired from for talking back to customers. He seems honestly upset when he tells Scott because, as he says sheepishly, he wants Scott to be proud of him. 

They get along well. 

And Scott falls more and more in love with Isaac as he gets to know him better. 

He learns that Jackson was talking about Isaac's dad and how Isaac probably deserved whatever his dad did to him which is why Isaac broke his nose. He apologizes again for trying to force Isaac to apologize, but Isaac just shrugs. 

"You didn't know." 

And it's not like Isaac could have told him. 

-*-

Scott kisses Isaac a few days before the end of school. 

Isaac kisses him back. 

There have been less and less bruises and split lips since. 

When Scott asks, Isaac says it's because there's too much happy in him. He can't find a place for the anger to fit. 

Stiles wolf whistles when Mr. Hale walks into the classroom one day and Mr. Hale has to physically leave to compose himself. There are twenty four more days of school and Beacon Hills has become unbearably hot. 

-*-

They graduate in May. 

Isaac lets Scott kiss him in front of the whole school and people cheer. Scott's mom rolls her eyes and Sheriff Stilinski slaps him on the back. Isaac looks incredibly nervous around the Sheriff, but he gets over it when the Sheriff refuses to let him apologize for what he considers "mistakes." 

The best part of graduation, however, is when Mr. Hale (Derek now) walks determinedly up to Stiles and whispers something in his ear. He practically runs away as soon as he's done but Stiles is grinning from ear to ear. 

"What did he say?" Scott asks cautiously and Stiles turns a bit pink. 

"Just to meet him in the parking lot so he can show me what graduating should really feel like." 

Scott still doesn't like the thought of Derek and Stiles fucking but, hey, Stiles took a chance and it worked out for him.

Scott has a lot of good things to say about that.


End file.
